Varanasi, a holy town, counts its blessings

As PM’s constituency, Varanasi is plied with much attention and a wave of development projects

New Delhi, 01/03/2017: Index-- Tourist enjoying Boat Ride as the Sunrises near the River Ganga in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on February 26, 2017. Photo : R. V. Moorthy

With election talk started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of how crematoriums and burial grounds should be distributed in villages in Uttar Pradesh, a look at how Varanasi fare in development is in order. For, the holy city, where the pious among Hindus believe last rites will gain them salvation, is Mr. Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency.

Not too far from the Manikarnika ghat, a place of cremation, is the camp office of Mr. Modi in a nondescript building that has a set of three offices and a waiting area in the courtyard. It is from here that Mr. Modi keeps in touch with his constituents and gets feedback on ongoing projects estimated at up to ₹30,000 crore sanctioned in the area.

“Being Prime Minister, Modi

ji was concerned that he should not lose touch with the people, and that he should respond to their needs as much as an MP does,” said Shiv Sharan Pathak, a member of the BJP, who runs the PMO’s secretariat, as it is called here.

A four-lane highway from the Babatpur airport to the city, underground cabling for utilities, and LED street lighting are just some of the things the citizens in Varanasi attribute as a direct consequence of being in the PM’s Lok Sabha constituency. At the office, work moves in a streamlined way. “We segregate work according to the authorities that have to be approached. If it is something to do with the district administration, we take it up with them, or with the Union or the State governments,” Mr. Pathak says.

“For follow-up, every day, either a local BJP MLA or MLC sits in the office during working hours to collate requests and chase them up. Every Saturday, a Union Minister is present here to oversee the work. Mainly, [Tourism Minister] Dr. Mahesh Sharma, [Telecom Minister] Manoj Sinha, [Minister of State for Human Resource Development] Mahendranath Pandey and Suresh Khanna (head of the Vidhan Mandal) take turns to be here every Saturday of the month,” Mr. Pathak says. “With regard to requests to the State government, those are still problematic to follow up, but the Central government’s works are fast-tracked,” he says.

Many a time responsive

The Prime Minister has been responsive in several other ways as well. When Varanasi resident and merchant navy engineer Santosh Bharadwaj was held hostage by pirates off the coast of Nigeria, his family turned to their local MP for help, and Mr. Bharadwaj was on his way home.

Chandra Kumar Tiwari, a travel business owner in the city, says that having the same party in power at the Centre and in the State could help end U.P.’s developmental woes. “Right now, there are still excuses being made for certain amenities not being provided. Iss baar jo sab baaki log kehtey the , karza maafi vagera , Bhajapaa [BJP] ne bhi keh diya apne manifesto mein (this time, promises made by others, of farm loan write-offs etc., have been made by the BJP as well),” he says.